


A Kind of Twisted Fairytale

by calie15



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rape/Non-con References, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-04
Updated: 2012-06-04
Packaged: 2017-12-17 21:00:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/871908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calie15/pseuds/calie15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a twisted fairytale if there ever was one. Her own prince charming riding in to save the day, a facade of kindness and heroism hiding his own terrible monster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Title: A Kind of Twisted Fairytale 1/2

Rating: R

Summary: It was a twisted fairytale if there ever was one. Her own prince charming riding in to save the day, a facade of kindness and heroism hiding his own terrible monster.

  
  


* * *

Three weeks. It had been three weeks that she had been held hostage against her will. In the beginning she had resisted. The response to that had been pain. Aneurisms by a witch, vervain to take her strength and make her compliant and the withholding of blood to teach her a lessen. It didn't matter what they did, Caroline would have rather died than become some slave for her monsters pleasure. Except she wasn't ready to die, so at some point she had relented, given in, if only for the time being.

After, things were easier. Every morning she was attended by young woman with bites on their necks who were entirely to happy because of their compulsion. It made Caroline sick.

They dressed her, applied make and fixed her hair. Caroline was a doll in a house full of monsters. The other vampires watched her with disgust, not at all approving of their masters new acquisition. It was one thing to have a human as a pet, it was another entirely to take a vampire as a pet, especially one they looked down upon. She was a baby to them, weak because of her morals. Weak because she bent to his will.

Except she wasn't bending to his will, Caroline was waiting. If she was vervained, hungry and trapped then there would be no chance of escape. Fooling him into believing she was compliant was her only chance. Except he wasn't fooled, not yet at least.

It was her first time allowed out into real public company. Yet he was always close, looking appreciatively at her, like a new toy. Introducing her to friends, awaiting compliments on his most recent acquisition.

She danced with him, smiling slightly, but it didn't reach her eyes. Caroline assumed he realized that, but her true happiness didn't matter to him.

His hands caressed her body until it was tense from the physical contact. Until she was so disgusted with the feel of his hands that she though she might be sick.

At one point he did step away, taking a young woman with him. The witch, much to stoic to be anything more then a bodyguard, stood near her. Even witches she supposed could have an evil spirit.

Obviously, she was off her game, because she didn't realize when he was upon her until his hand touched her hip, his chest pressing into her back. He wreaked of human blood so she exhaled and stopped breathing after that.

"You are quite beautiful tonight."

His hand slid over abdomen, much to low to be proper for the public eye. She tensed. It had been three weeks and he had yet to make a move for her body, yet that threat always lingered in her mind. "Thank you," she said evenly.

"So cold," he whispered into her ear. "I'm sure I could find some way to warm you."

He pulled her back against him and Caroline resisted the urge to shudder.

"Honestly, I'm sure a vampire of your age could come up with a pick up line of more originality."

Caroline gasped, spinning out of her captors arms to face the origination of the voice. Her monster didn't seem to even notice, his attention was also on the new voice...the familiar voice.

"I don't believe we've been introduced."

Then he held out his hand and she released a shaky breath, staring at him as she stretched her hand out to him. He took it.

"My name is Niklaus."

"Caroline," she whispered and he bent at the waist, never breaking eye contact, and kissed her hand. There was a muffled voice, almost tense, but Caroline didn't hear it. Klaus released her hand and turned to her captor, his eyes sharp. She could only make out small pleasantries before Klaus looked at her again and back to the man at her side, the monster that kept her there.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to ask the lovely Caroline to dance."

Before the other vampire could even answer Caroline snapped into action. "Yes, please." Klaus took her hand again, ignoring the monster. No one told Klaus no. He led her onto the dance floor, securing an arm around her waist and holding her hand in the other. She clung to him. "Klaus..."

"Quite the cryptic message you left me love. I was ready to give you a piece my mind. Something about only calling when it suited you or you needed something. Of course when I got there you were gone." Klaus cocked an eyebrow, but she only stared up at him. "Now look at the trouble you've gotten yourself in. And you call me the psychopath."

"Did you only come to tease me," she snapped angrily, realizing for the first time that she felt like her old self again. Even though she was with Klaus, of all people, she didn't need to fear being herself. As usual, his only response to her ire was amusement.

"Contrary to what you believe, I didn't come to watch this spectacle." Klaus glanced around and frowned before he turned back to her. "Yet, my abilities aren't limitless."

"I know," she sighed in response. In that moment she felt tired, so tired. Regardless of the type of man Klaus was, Caroline could have taken comfort in his presence at the moment, closed her eyes and lowered her head to his shoulder. "The witches."

"Precisely. I don't think now is the opportune time."

Caroline tensed at his words, nervous at what the rest of the night held in store for her. "I can't," she said softly, her eyes pleading. "I'd rather die then..." Yet she couldn't say it. "I can't."

"Come now love," Klaus stepped back with a smile, holding only one of her hands now as he bent against to kiss her. "Have a little faith."

* * *

In the time she sat on the bed Caroline had slid a letter opener beneath the pillow, fluffed her hair, readjusted her breasts and fought the urge to spew the blood she had ingested earlier.

Klaus had disappeared, leaving Caroline to her very own scantily clad nightmare. Within hours she had gone from toy to prospective sex toy. Caroline wasn't that weak. Only one of them was walking out of that room alive.

The door clicked finally, opened and he walked in. She didn't go for the letter opener first, determined to play along, let him get close.

"So sorry love, we were busy."

And just like that everything changed. Klaus stepped out from behind her nightmare and shut the door.

"Have a seat," Klaus directed the other vampire and waited before turning back to Caroline with a cocked eyebrow. "I'm assuming this wasn't in anticipation of my arrival."

Caroline looked down at her scantily clad attire and folded her arms over her chest before looking up to glare at him. He only rolled his eyes and then he was shrugging off his black jacket, stepping forward and leaning close so that he could drape it over her shoulders.

"I'm not a voyeur love, cover up." With that he turned and took a seat on the bed, cocking his head to study the vampire in front of him. "Well, what do we have here?"

"What do you want Klaus?" The vampire snarled angrily. "Do you really think you'll make it out of here alive. My witches, vampires-."

"One question at a time," Klaus interrupted. "First, yes, I will make it out of here alive. Your witches and vampires are dead. My brother had quite a time with them."

As he spoke Caroline had crawled forward on the bed and sat slightly behind him,still preferring him between her and the monster.

"And second," Klaus stood and looked down at him, "what do I want? Well," Klaus began again, turning behind him to glance at Caroline, but he said nothing and instead frowned. "Really sweetheart, I said cover up."

Caroline looked down in confusion to where his jacket hung partially open, but it covered her, much more so then she had been just moments ago. Yet even so, Klaus was in front of her in a flash and buttoning it. "Thanks," she whispered, overcome with the gentleness of his gesture. His eyes shot up to her and narrowed. Then the moment was gone and he turned again, facing her captor.

"What do I want?" Klaus sighed and looked around, spotting a bar. "Ah."

In confusion, Caroline watched him walk away. When he began pouring himself a drink she stared in shock, unable to understand this vampire who remained so calm under the scenario she was now in. He took his time, finally making his way back and taking a seat in another chair, directly facing her monster, and looking as relaxed as he would in his own home.

"Now where was I?"

"What do you want?" The monster asked again angrily.

"Yes," Klaus took a sip and rested his arm on that of the chair, "what do I want. I think, maybe, for you to fully understand I might owe you an explanation. You see, before you set your eyes on pretty little Caroline here I met her some time ago. She was a sweet little thing then, high school cheerleader living in a small town. I'm sure you would have loved it."

Caroline sighed in exasperation and he looked at her pointedly, clearing telling her it was his turn. She frowned in response, but said nothing.

"I can empathize with you," Klaus began again, speaking to the vampire who sat compelled to stay in his chair, "I was quite taken with her myself. How long has it been now Caroline. Ten years?" He glanced at her, but she only glared. "That's beside the point. The point I've been trying to make is that I've been waiting quiet patiently for her." Klaus took another sip. "Even though she has been very resistant."

Caroline huffed and he smirked at her, obviously enjoying his little story.

"I'm patient though," Klaus said with a shrug, "I can wait. I have eternity after all. The waiting doesn't bother me." Tipping the tumbler back, Klaus swallowed the rest of the amber liquid before tossing it to the side, the glass shattering against the wall.

In a split second everything changed. Klaus moved forward at inhuman speed, grasping her monster's neck and raising him off his feet.

"What bother's me," Klaus growled angrily, "is you taking her. What bother's me is you torturing her, parading her around like some plaything and taking her to your bed like some whore."

"I didn't know she was yours," the vampire choked out, his eyes wide in fear, finally realizing his error.

"She isn't mine," Klaus snarled, "maybe one day, but not yet. Yet I won't permit her to be treated so cruelly."

Caroline watched with her mouth gaping slightly as Klaus slammed him down into the chair again. Slowly, he walked around it, like a predator stalking it's prey, and then stopped, propped one hand onto the arm of the chair, the other onto the back, and leaned forward to whisper into her monster's ear.

"This hand," Klaus began as he picked up one of the vampires hands, "was this the one you touched her with?"

From the moment Klaus had walked in, eerily calm, Caroline should have known this was where it was going. Yet she still wasn't prepared for the scream the reverberated within the room as Klaus crushed the other vampire's hand. It was when he snapped a third finger clean off that her gag reflex decided to make itself known.

Klaus looked up, eyes black and yellow, and then they quickly receded back to their human color. "Kol!"

Their eyes didn't leave one another, not even to spare a glance at her monster as he sat there panting and whimpering. Soon the door opened.

"Finally," Kol said with a grin as he stepped into the room, "the real fun."

"None for you. Take Caroline."

Without even realizing it Caroline shook her head. "No, I'm waiting for-." You, she was waiting for him, but before she could say it she had stopped. Yet the meaning was clear to him. She knew from the way he stared at her, forgetting the tortured vampire at his side.

"I really don't think torture is your cup of tea, and I'm no where near finished with your new friend." With those words Klaus stepped towards the bed where she still sat and held out a hand.

It scared her how much she appreciated the fact that he always asked permission first, for everything that concerned her. Slowly, she took it and he preceded to help her off the bed and lead her around her captor, his own body between them. As they neared Kol he stopped.

"Straight to the hotel Kol. And leave her alone. Don't touch her and no smart ass comments or I'll skin you next," Klaus snapped.

Kol only rolled his eyes, but he stepped to the side, allowing her access to the door. That must have been sufficient for Klaus, because he released her hand and pressed his own to her back, ushering her to the door. Grasping the door jam, Caroline turned, her eyes beseeching his. "You'll kill him right?"

"Of course," Klaus smiled. "Although, not until he is begging me too."

With that Klaus shut the door. Caroline walked away with Kol leading her. They descended the stairs, and she averted her eyes from the bodies. The dead vampires littering the stairs, the witches who had tortured her, even two of the girls who had assisted her in dressing. They were human, victims too. It bothered her for a moment to see them there. Kol's doing to be sure. Caroline would have compelled them, told them to forget it all, to leave. It was to late for them though, and she couldn't let herself feel guilty for something she had no control over. Not when she heard a blood curdling scream from upstairs and she was practically running from the sound of it.  
  


  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a twisted fairytale if there ever was one. Her own prince charming riding in to save the day, a facade of kindness and heroism hiding his own terrible monster.

Title: A Kind of Twisted Fairytale 2/2

Rating: R

Summary: It was a twisted fairytale if there ever was one. Her own prince charming riding in to save the day, a facade of kindness and heroism hiding his own terrible monster.

  
  


* * *

Regardless of the fact that she was out of danger Caroline still couldn't find sleep that night. To much had happened and there was still the fact that Kol was there, the only other person or vampire in the hotel room with her. She didn't entirely trust him, even though he seemed to hold a measure of respect for his brother. It was much later that night when she heard a door open.

Part of her hoped Klaus would leave her be, another part wanted him to come to her. The entire situation felt unfinished and sleeping seemed impossible.

Eventually, the choice had been made and a knock interrupted her thoughts. "Come in." The door opened revealing Klaus' familiar silhouette. Blood, he reeked of it. Yet as he neared her, stopping at the side of her bed, she saw no sign of it on his body. He looked down on her, head cocked to the side slightly, face void of anything that would make her relate him to the murderer he was. Instead of saying anything he just stared down on her in much of the same way he had ten years ago, that fateful night he had saved her. It seemed poetic that they were once again in the same situation, her the scared vampire, curled in a bed, him the big bad Original, having just enough room left in his dead heart to offer her some kindness, save her life. "Is he dead?"

"Very," Klaus said softly, staring down at her. It was rare he saw this side of her, a young girl who could be hurt, who could be broken. Klaus had no doubt she would bounce back, Caroline was strong that way, but she wore her heart on her sleeve. Good people could be hurt so easily.

"You didn't have to kill the humans." Saying that seemed easier then 'thank you'. He smirked softly down at her and she frowned, human life wasn't something she took lightly.

"I couldn't help but think as I left that would have been a concern of yours. Does it help that if I had known they were there I would have told Kol to leave them unharmed?"

Caroline snorted and looked away from him, staring straight ahead. "I doubt that, you don't care for their lives."

"If I thought their death would cause you further pain I would have done so." The frown on her face eased away and she met his eyes again. Klaus opened his mouth to speak then shut it. Slowly, he took a seat on the side of the bed, his hip bumping her knee slightly. She didn't move, remaining there curled on her side. Leaning forward, Klaus settled a hand on either side of her body and looked down at her. "How long Caroline? How long are you going to keep up this foolishness?"

"It isn't foolishness," she whispered painfully and turned her head again to stare at the wall. "It's about making the right choice."

"And I'm not your right choice," he responded, completing the thought that he knew was in her head. When she didn't respond he sighed. "I was here, does that count for nothing?"

At his words she closed her eyes, wanting to shut out the feelings, shut out what her heart told her was the truthful response. Yet she couldn't deny the truth, only ignore it. "Thank you, I know you didn't have to help me."

For a moment Klaus just watched her, willing her eyes to open and look up at him, let him see what was held there, but he knew she wouldn't. Caroline wouldn't allow him to see what she really felt. In the morning she'd face him, that facade of indifference on her face again, but that night, she couldn't. "Go to sleep, your safe here, I swear."

Caroline only nodded, squeezing her eyes shut, fighting the tears. Luckily though, the bed shifted and he stood, his steps quite on the carpeted floor. Soon the door closed behind him and she was left staring into the darkness, silent tears wetting her pillow.

* * *

Yet sleep did not come, the darkness surrounded her and swallowed her hole, made her feel as if she was drowning and alone once again. The bed was unfamiliar, like the one she had just left. The room wasn't hers, just like the one that had been her prison. Caroline was a scared little girl in a big dark room, alone.

Without thinking and without out the reasoning she had earlier, she left the cold, unfamiliar bed, exited the room and slowly walked down the hallway. Her nose led her to her destination, never failing her. Slowly, without fear or guilt, she reached out and grabbed the knob and turned it. The door opened revealing another room, much like her own and just as dark.

Caroline padded across the carpet, her eyes watching where her feet led her, until she too was sitting on the side of a bed. It was only her movements that shifted the mattress. "I'll want to leave tomorrow."

"That seemed quite evident," Klaus responded, his voice raspy in the darkness. Sleep hadn't come easily to him, but at the first sign of her moving from her own bed he had been awake and ready.

"I-." Caroline started, but stopped, unable to to convey what it was she was looking for. "It seems weird to me that I'm still more scared of him now then you. What's the difference...between what he wanted from me and what you want?"

Klaus opened his mouth, caught off guard by her direct question. It seemed her short disappearance had done something to the girl he once knew. "We wanted something entirely different. One thing that can be obtained through force and fear. Another which cannot not be obtained, only given."

It was a stupid question, because as usual his answers were beautiful, made of the same things that made fairy tales and happy endings. In that room with him, the door and blinds closed, the darkness swallowing them whole, Caroline could ignore the outside world. Ignore his past sins and her own, even though the list was much shorter. She could ignore the fact that they were monsters themselves. Caroline could sit there and pretend that the only thing that happened was that some cruel monster carried her away and her knight and shinning armor saved her. It was a twisted fairytale if there ever was one. Her own prince charming riding in to save the day, a facade of kindness and heroism hiding his own terrible monster.

Klaus, in his own way, was just as terrible as her monster. Yet Klaus wasn't her monster, she didn't fear him. In fact, when it had come to making that phone call three weeks ago for help it had been Klaus she had turned to, knowing he would be there to drag her out of trouble. Caroline needed that again, if only for one night.

Too broken for one night, she didn't question herself and she crawled onto the bed. The comforter moved, not by her own doing, and she slid underneath it. Without hesitation she moved towards the center of the bed. It shifted beneath her, and as she touched his warm body an arm wrapped around her, pulling her flush against him without hesitation. Caroline shuddered at the sudden physical sensation of his body against her own. The skin of his torso was bare beneath her fingers, yet she left her hands there. Scooting closer, Caroline curled her legs up into him and buried her face into his neck, breathing in his scent and taking comfort in it for reasons even she could not understand. Finally, she relaxed, releasing a soft exhale and closing her eyes. "I see him," she whispered, "when I close my eyes."

"A shame then that you couldn't have seen him when I was done." Caroline laughed and he could feel her warm breath brush against his chest. Soon enough she was silent again though. It was there, within her, a part of her that already belonged to him, even if she didn't realize it. Caroline couldn't hide that, not now. The days of telling him to get lost, that she felt nothing were over. It was there, beneath layers of pride, ethics, caring and empathy that wouldn't allow her to give in to feelings for him. Yet they were layers that he couldn't peel away. Klaus was all to aware that it was those things that made her the woman he sought. It was for that reason that he never sought to change her.

"If you wouldn't have come tonight-." His hand tensed on her back, fingers digging into her skin and she looked up to see the golden yellow of his eyes glow and then it was extinguished.

"Nothing happened," he responded firmly, forcing himself to relax and ignore the anxiety her words had given him. Klaus was careful in the way he approached Caroline, in the way he conducted himself in front of her. The other vampire had been right in a way, Caroline may not have been his, but Klaus couldn't help but thinking of her in that way and he didn't like those infringing on what was his, especially when it was to cause pain.

At that point Caroline said nothing, realizing her error, even if it was one that she hadn't predicted would result in that type of reaction. She had always been well aware of Klaus' affections for her. In a way, she had come to accept that it was more then just an infatuation, an obsession of a psychopath. Klaus didn't invade her space, stalk her, make her feel as if she was in danger from him. He kept his distance, knowing her feelings, yet always remained just close enough, popping up in her life just often enough that she couldn't forget him. Doing things for her that reminded her time and time again what he felt her and the lengths he would go until she would feel the same.

A part of her had assumed he had an investment in her safety. That although he had feelings for her and was waiting patiently for her to change her mind, he wasn't just going to be kind enough to realize that the right thing to do would be to leave her alone. Caroline had assumed he would save her because one day he expected she would change her mind. That she she was some unattainable object that Klaus wanted, one he would protect until it was rightfully his.

It had been the sudden tension in him at her words, his sharp reaction to her fear that her monster had been minutes from taking something from her that she wouldn't have been strong enough to recover from that Caroline realized Klaus felt more then she had anticipated. It was all to evident in that moment that if it had happened it would have hurt him too.

Yet Caroline couldn't allow herself to dwell on that fact. If she did consider that, realize that her pain would cause him pain too, realize the true depth of his feelings, realize that when he referred to the thing that could only be given, her love, then she very well might allow herself to fall for him, and that wasn't acceptable.

"Don't make me compel you to sleep love. I'm well aware that you aren't on vervain at the moment," Klaus said finally, aware by her silence that her thoughts were running away within her. Nothing good would come of it, not on that night.

That fact had never occurred to her, and for a moment she felt a flicker of fear, because without vervain she was at Klaus' mercy. Immediately she extinguished it though, because if he was going to compel her he would have done so already. Besides, Klaus had already made it quite clear that he wanted her affections willingly. He didn't want it through the same cruel means her monster used. So she closed her eyes, concentrating on the feel of him against her, his breathing, which made him seem all to human, and in minutes she was asleep.

* * *

When Caroline woke, the arms around her were gone. Her senses told her it was daylight though, and that was without her eyes even being open. It was like second nature to a vampire to be aware of the daylight hours. Caroline always assumed it was due to the deadly effects the sun could have on her kind.

When she opened her eyes he was there, sitting in a plush chair near the side of the bed, dressed for the day, relaxed and watching her. "What time is it?"

"Almost noon," Klaus answered and lifted the bag of blood which sat on his thigh and leaned forward to hand it to her.

Caroline looked at it speculatively at first, but it became quite evident that it was taken from one of the local blood banks.

"I had Kol obtain a stash for you. It should hold you over for a few of days." She only nodded in response as she sat up and brought the bag to her mouth. He watched her in silence as she drained it, the blood already doing wonders to help her. It had been evident to him when he'd seen her that first night that she hadn't been getting enough blood to sustain her. Another fact that he tried to ignore. If he dwelled on her apparent deterioration that it would only infuriate him further.

Caroline settled the bag on the bed stand and turned her attention back to him. Silence hung between them and Caroline could only assume it was the previous nights events that made them pause "Thanks. And for my clothes," Caroline said, referring to the familiar suitcase she found in the other room the previous night filled with a few of her belongings. "You really planned ahead."

Klaus raised his eyebrows in amusement. "I'm old sweetheart, planning is my forte. And then usually I have a back up plan and another back up plan on top of that." She only rolled her eyes and just like that they seemed to be slipping back into that old familiarity. The silence overcame them again though and she didn't seem inclined to break it this time. "What are you going to do?"

"Go home," she said with a sigh, relieved almost to be looking towards the future instead of the hell she had just been put through. "I might move again though," Caroline said almost as the thought suddenly came to her. She'd been settled for almost two years, but the most recent events tainted her home and a new city seemed like a cure all at the moment.

"The hotel is paid for up to two weeks." She opened her mouth to respond, eyes going wide, but he quickly cut her off. "Either you can take it or leave it because it's done, but I was under the assumption you wouldn't want to be returning to your quaint little apartment." At that she frowned, but he only smirked and stood. "The refrigerator is stocked with enough blood for a few days, although from the looks of you I don't think it will last you that long." Nearing the bed he stopped at the side and looked down at her, cocking his head slightly, his previous amusement gone. "I've taken care of the dead bodies at your apartment. Three male vampires. You must have put up quite a fight, I'm impressed."

Caroline smiled softly, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Then he was sitting again, this time on the bed, much to close to her. "Why are you doing this?"

At her question, Klaus sighed, because after all this time it should have been apparent.

"I know why. I mean why after I continue to turn you way do you do this? You saved me, killed for me, are leaving me in this expensive hotel room for two weeks with blood and even packed my own suitcase. And all I do is turn you away, over and over again."

"Way to make me feel used," he joked and she glared at him, so he decided his answer deserved the utmost attention. "As I told our dead friend last night, I have eternity to wait, I'm not going anywhere." She stared at him, waiting. "For vampires, there are no definites, there are no limitations. You say no, but I'm well aware of what effect years can have on a person. Ten years ago would you have thought we would have been here?"

Klaus' question shook her, because he was right. Ten years ago Caroline would have said there would no way in hell she would have been calling Klaus to save her life and she definitely would not have been crawling into his bed for comfort from an entirely different monster. "You may not be able to be killed, but the same can't be said for me," Caroline pointed out, "what good will patience do you when I'm dead?" Instead of thinking it a valid point, he only smiled.

"In all honesty, I didn't realize you would be so much trouble to keep safe. Try to stay out of trouble love. Now I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on you." She sighed in exasperation and he smirked slightly. "Don't pout." With that he stood and leaned forward, touching a hand to her cheek and pressing his lips to her forehead. She titled her head up, looking into his eyes, and for the first time his control was shaken. For the first time since he'd found her he questioned his decision a long time ago to allow her to come to her own decisions. For the first time, seeing her face upturned, fresh from sleep, wide eyed and innocent, Klaus wanted to lower his head and take his kiss.

Caroline watched his tongue flick out slightly, wetting his lips, and suddenly all the breath left her body, the air around her seemed to thicken and she tensed. Yet nothing ever came of what was building in the air.

"Goodbye Caroline," Klaus said gently and released her.

Caroline watched him turn and leave, glancing behind himself once before closing the door.

For a time she just sat there, listening as his quite steps continued through the hotel room and then finally another door shut and she was surrounded by silence. It overwhelmed almost immediately and for a moment she felt close to panic. Caroline stood, not sure where to go or what to do, and looked around frantically, for something, anything. Then something caught her attention, settled on the chair Klaus had just vacated. With slow, hesitant steps she neared it, bent down, and carefully lifted the sheet of paper. It was a picture of herself curled on her side in the bed she had just vacated, eyes closed and sleeping peacefully. She stared at it for a moment, mouth parted slightly, then slowly a corner of her mouth lifted into a small smile and the panic that had been building just moments ago ceased. With a slight shake of her head her smiled widened slightly. "Damn him."  


  
  



End file.
